New study suggests that a prenatal intervention program, for stopping substance use in pregnancy, could save almost $2 billion annually if it were implemented nationwide. Click here to read about this study aimed at reducing the risk of substance abuse with pregnant women.

The  Essex Pregnancy and Parenting Connection (EPPC) links expecting families and families with a child up to 3 months with voluntary home visiting. EPPC works with the three home visitation programs in Essex County. Collaborate with community agencies and prenatal care providers to refer families to home visitation services.

Find out more information about The Essex Pregnancy and Parenting Connection by clicking this link.

Does your weight and diabetes affect your unborn child? Learn more by clicking on this link.

NOFAS Weekly Roundup - Volume 2, Issue 29

The NOFAS Weekly Roundup features news articles, research, event
announcements, new materials and other highlights from around the world
of FASD. The Roundup also includes the latest news from NOFAS and a link
to the Calendar of Events page on the NOFAS website.

FEATURES

Journal of Psychiatry and Law - Special Edition: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome


The first of two special issues of the Journal of Psychiatry & Law
focused solely on FASD has been published. Edited by noted FASD legal
expert and NOFAS Advisory Board member, William J. Edwards, the edition
features articles by Ken Jones and Anne Streissguth, legal experts,
judges, and NOFAS affiliate members, Eileen Bisgard, Sr. Suzette Fisher
and Susan Adubato.

Articles, Journal of Psychiatry and Law, Summer 2011

Talking Alcohol Web Chat: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Leading FASD researcher and expert Dr. Ed Riley recently answered
questions about alcohol and pregnancy on a live web chat sponsored by
SAB Miller and hosted by NOFAS.

Web Chat, SAB Miller, July 2011

American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Calls for Regular Alcohol
Abuse Screening

New recommendations from the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology
(ACOG) call for annual alcohol screening for all women of childbearing
age and screening in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Article, JoinTogether.org, July 22, 2011

What about that glass of wine?

Due to a recent discussion on Twitter about alcohol use during
pregnancy, the March of Dimes warns pregnant women of the dangers of
exposing a fetus to alcohol.

Article, News Moms Need - March of Dimes, July 22, 2011

Attitudes and behaviour predict women's intention to drink alcohol
during pregnancy: the challenge for health professionals.

A recent study from Australia shows that a woman's past pregnancy
behavior, current alcohol consumption, and attitudes toward alcohol use
during pregnancy were the strongest indicators of whether they would
consume alcohol during pregnancy.

Article, BMC Public Health, July 22, 2011

Russia classifies beer as alcoholic

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently signed a bill that classifies
beer as alcoholic in response to growing alcohol abuse in the country.

Article, BBC News, July 21, 2011

Cop turns candidate over FASD

Gerard Allard, a police officer from Winnipeg, is so overwhelmed with
Manitoba's FASD epidemic that he has decided to run for office in the
provincial election.

Article, Winnipeg Free Press, July 20, 2011

Booze destroyed Kiera's life before she was born - then killed her mum

Seven-year-old Kiera Roebuck, a young girl with FAS from the United
Kingdom, with her Grandmother Carole Roebuck-Mitchell share the story of
how alcohol has had lifelong implications for Kiera and her mother.

Article, The Mirror, July 20, 2011

Children's Health: Making poor choices during pregnancy can negatively
impact baby

Practitioners in Pennsylvania discuss the dangers of prenatal alcohol
exposure and their experiences with patients with FAS.

Article, PennLive.com, July 19, 2011

Addiction Performance Project 

Join the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for The Addiction
Performance Project, 'a program to help break down the stigma associated
with addiction and promote a healthy dialogue that fosters compassion,
cooperation, and understanding for patients living with this disease.'

Event, NIDA, July 2011

AFFILIATES

Join the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (MOFAS) at the
4th Annual Golf Classic

MOFAS will be hosting its 4th Annual Golf Classic on September 16, 2011
at Majestic Oaks Golf Club Signature Course in Ham Lake, MN.  

Event, MOFAS, July 22, 2011

NOFAS

Leading FASD Researcher Dr. Philip May Accepts 2011 NOFAS Excellence
Award 

Philip May, Ph.D. is presented with the 2011 NOFAS Excellence Award for
his many years of groundbreaking research into the prevalence of FASD
around the world.  The award is presented by previous honoree Dr. Ken
Warren, Acting Director of NIAAA.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 

The World Health Organization lists priority medicines for children and pregnant women. NY Times, By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., March 28, 2011
The World Health Organization recently released its first list of what it called “the top 30 medicines to save mothers and children,” a formulary of drugs that every hospital and clinic in every poor country should have.
More than eight million children under age 5 die each year, and 1,000 women die each day from complications of pregnancy or birth. Many could be saved with cheap drugs or simple interventions like antibacterial soap and Epsom salts. The list includes no expensive brand-name drugs and emphasizes ones that come as dry pills or powders, which can be shipped cheaply and mixed into liquids for children on site.
On the W.H.O.’s list were oxytocin and saline solution to treat birth hemorrhages, and Epsom salts and calcium gluconate for runaway high blood pressure in pregnancy.
The list contains several antibiotics to prevent infections picked up in childbirth or during abortions, as well as to treat pneumonia and infections of the blood or brain in children.
The new list includes misoprostol to induce labor, and nifedipine and betamethasone to prevent premature births. To treat diarrhea, W.H.O. suggested oral rehydration salts and zinc. For malaria, the list recommends combination drugs that contain artemisinin, and for advanced malaria, artesunate. For AIDS, it suggested some of the common antiretroviral triple therapy combinations.
W.H.O. also suggested vitamin A for measles. The vitamin doesn’t prevent the infection, but a child taking it is less likely to die with measles.
The full list of priority medicines for children and pregnant can be found by clicking this link.

Read an interesting article, published in the NY Times, about babies who are born dependent on prescription opiates.   To read the article click here.

According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the February 28 issue of the jounal Pediatrics, maternal smoking in the 1st trimester of pregnancy is associated with an increase risk of congenital heart defects in infants.  To read the article click here.